Air Safety Concerns As Travel Picks Up

Above, a Boeing 787 Dreamliner at LAX. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

Now that spring has sprung and summer is about two months away, travel is picking up steam. 

However, some are leery about flying on Boeing aircraft since several incidents took place, thankfully with no fatalites. 

According to an article in West Hawaii Today:

A series of troubling airline incidents and upheaval at aircraft manufacturer Boeing have raised questions about air safety, as more travelers take to the skies this spring and look toward summer trips.

Aviation industry experts say flying remains one of the safest forms of transportation. The U.S. passenger airline industry also hasn’t had a major fatal crash since 2009.

But in the wake of recent headline-grabbing incidents, including a door plug ejecting out of an Alaska Airlines Boeing 737 Max and incidents at United and Southwest, industry leaders acknowledge the need for work to maintain the safety record U.S. airlines have established over the years. 

 To read more, go here.

Hawaii Travel Could Return To 2019 Levels By Year's End

Above, performers at a Honolulu luau. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

This is probably a case of wishful thinking or being overly optimistic.

Hawaii economists think that tourism to the state could return to 2019 levels by the end of the year.

According to West Hawaii Today:

State economists believe travel to the state could nearly return to 2019 levels by the end of this year, but a complete recovery will take more than three years.

At a Monday meeting of the Hawaii Senate Ways and Means Committee, Eugene Tian, economic research administrator for the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and Carl Bonham, executive director of the University of Hawaii Economic Research Organization, described the economic challenges facing the state in 2021 after nearly a year of the pandemic.

While fallout from the COVID-19 outbreak slashed the total number of visitor arrivals to the state in 2020 to only 27% of 2019’s total, Bonham said an optimistic projection for the state’s economic recovery could see tourism numbers return to 80% of 2019’s total by the end of this year.

Bonham added that a more pessimistic projection would see visitor numbers only increase to 50% of 2019 levels, but said he was more inclined to believe recovery will be on the higher end of that scale.

To read more, go here. 

New Eruption At Kilauea Volcano

Above, an aerial view of Kilauea Volcano in May 2016. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

A Magnitude 4.4 earthquake has struck the Big Island of Hawaii tonight along with an eruption of Kilauea volcano.

According to West Hawaii Today:

Hawaii County Civil Defense said the eruption that commenced shortly after 9:30 p.m. Sunday remains confined to the Kilauea Volcano’s summit caldera.

“According to HVO (Hawaiian Volcano Observatory), it looks like it’s all contained within the crater, however, the National Weather Service did say that there was a plume that was released from Halemaumau that had rised for 30,000 feet,” Bill Hanson with Hawaii County Civil Defense said shortly before 11:30 p.m.

According to the observatory, Sunday night’s eruption was preceded by an earthquake swarm accompanied by ground deformation detected by tiltmeters. An orange glow was subsequently observed on IR monitoring cameras and visually beginning approximately 9:36 Hawaii time.

Civil Defense said a magnitude-4.4 earthquake that struck at 10:36 p.m. on Kilauea’s south flank was not large enough to cause a tsunami.

Previous updates: The Hawaiian Volcano Observatory has upgraded Kilauea Volcano’s alert level to “WARNING” and aviation color code to “RED” following an eruption that commenced shortly after 9:30 p.m. Sunday.

 To read more, go here.

Trump To Visit USS Arizona Memorial

Above, the USS Arizona Memorial. Photo by Armand Vaquer.

En route to his Asian summits, President Donald Trump will stop over in Hawaii and visit the USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

According to West Hawaii Today:

HONOLULU — President Donald Trump’s first official trip to Hawaii and Asia will include a stop at Pearl Harbor and the USS Arizona Memorial, the White House said today. 

Trump will travel to Hawaii, Japan, South Korea, China, Vietnam and the Philippines from Nov. 3-14. 

“The president’s travel will underscore his commitment to longstanding United States alliances and partnerships, and reaffirm United States leadership in promoting a free and open Indo-Pacific region,” the White House said in a release. 

On Nov. 3 at the start of the trip, Trump will also receive a briefing from U.S. Pacific Command in Hawaii. The impact on public visits to the Arizona Memorial was not immediately clear.

To read more, go here.